This presentation was originally presented at the 2011 NCSLMA Conference. It's an update of Video Games in the Classroom.

1. Game On!
How Video Games Can Bring Excitement and Learning to Your
Media Center

2. Play

3. Remember
the sandbox?

4. Is he learning?

5. “It is paradoxical that many educators and
parents still differentiate between a time
for learning and a time for play without
seeing the vital connection
between them.”
Leo F. Buscaglia, USC

6. “The opposite of work is not
play, it’s depression.”
‐Stuart Brown,
National Institute for Play

7. This is what
engagement
looks like.

8. Are they
learning?

9. This is what
school
looks like.

10. Are they
learning?

11. Video Games

12. The average age
of a game player
is

13. The average age
of a game player
is
37

14. The percentage of
women who are video
game players is

15. The percentage of
women who are video
game players is
42%

16. What % of all gamers?

17. 13%
What % of all gamers?

18. 13%
37%
What % of all gamers?

19. Videos Game sales
in 2010 generated

20. Videos Game sales
in 2010 generated
$25.1 billion

21. Videos Game sales
in 2010 generated
$25.1 billion
2010 Book Sales:
$11.6 billion

22. Videos Game sales
in 2010 generated
$25.1 billion
2010 Book Sales: 2010 Movie Ticket
$11.6 billion Sales: $10.5 billion

23. Between 5th grade and graduation,
students will spend 10,080 hours in
the classroom.

24. The average young person will spend
10,000 hours, by the time they’re 21,
playing video games.
Jane McGonigal, Institute for the
Future

25. A Parallel Curriculum?

26. “...the designers of
many good games have
hit on profoundly good
methods of getting
people to learn and to
enjoy learning.”
‐James Paul Gee,
University of Madison Wisconsin

27. Learning works best when new
challenges are “pleasantly
frustrating” in the sense of being
felt by learners to be at the outer
edge of, but within their “regime
of competence”. That is, these
challenges feel hard, but doable.
(Gee, 2007, p. 36).

28. How Do Games Teach?
•Social Interaction (Collaborative Learning)
•Customized Experiences (Differentiation/Learner Control)
•Achievement (Mastery Learning)
•Relevance (Contextual Learning)
•Multimedia (Multiple Intelligences)

29. “Today's game designers have figured out something
today's educators are still searching for: how to make
learning engaging for today's kids. It would be a shame
not to employ this knowledge in our classrooms.”
‐Marc Prensky

30. 11 Tips for Bringing Video
Games Into Your Media Center

31. #1 Read what the experts are saying.

32. #2 Talk to your learners about what
games they play.

33. #3 Let your own children teach you about
the games they play.

34. #4 Pick up a new game and play it.

35. #5 Put on your teacher lenses.

36. #6 Don’t overlook off‐the‐shelf games.

37. #7 Always start with your instructional
goals in mind.

38. #8 Collaborate and share with other
professionals.

39. #9 Make cookies for your IT staff; they
can be powerful allies.

40. #10 Get your principal on board.

41. #11 Remember how to play.

42. Idea Starters

43. “What if?” world history with Civilization IV.
•Multiplayer or single‐player.
•Strategy/research/decision‐making.
•Rich world history information.
•This game is currently only $7.89 on
Amazon!

44. Nickel‐and‐dimed challenge in The SIMS 2.
•Game can be easily modified.
•Can you play the part of a single
mother with no marketable skills whose
only goal is to raise one or more children
to high school graduation?
•Teaching point‐of‐view and perspective.

45. Study statistics with Madden 2012.
•How do players’ in‐game statistics
compare to the real world?
•Predict outcomes of a game based on
known statistics.
•Are game statistics accurate?

46. Tell a story using Neverwinter Nights 2.
•Rich, fantasy roleplay game.
•Includes development tools allowing
players to completely build and script their
own world that other players can
experience.
•Strong writing/literacy connection.

47. Build A World With Minecraft!
•Imagine a world made of LEGOs.
•Host your own server, locally.
•Build all sorts of things: buildings, roller
coasters, computers, art, and more.
•Appeal to all ages.

48. Explore Language Arts in World of Warcraft!
•Rich, multiplayer, fantasy world.
•Build reading and writing skill.
•Develop leadership, digital citizenship,
social skills.
•Full curriculum already developed!

49. A story about a girl...

50. Questions?

51. Lucas Gillispie
@PCSTech
and
@wowinschool

52. www.edurealms.com

53. Photo Credits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/benmcleod/213005390/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/divinedecay/4732129949/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/superhua/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/files/authors/stuart‐brown.jpg?0
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/58/Leo_Buscaglia,_1987.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mommylicious/4445019534/
http://www.jamespreller.com/wp‐content/uploads/2010/05/best‐games‐never‐made‐6.jpg
http://ps3.mmgn.com/Lib/Images/News/Normal/Male‐gamers‐less‐likely‐to‐take‐drugs‐do‐better‐at‐school‐1061071.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hrdrck/4515090284/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/zizzy/89581233/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trojanguy/3402405468/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/takeda/3786428050/
http://www.pandorajewelrydenver.com/_product_73690/Spectacular_Cat_Eye_Spectacles
http://www.flickr.com/photos/martinlukk/110883674/
http://icoblog.wordpress.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/betsyweber/4962298166/